Iron Nun's advice: Don't 'grow up'

By Marlene Quaroni - Florida Catholic

MIAMI SHORES � Sister Madonna Buder is called the �Iron Nun� for good reason, and it�s not just her age.

The 80-year-old member of the Sisters for Christian Community has competed in 325 triathlons, including 40 Iron Man races which consist of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles of bicycling and 26.2 miles of running.

She started running at age 49 and competed in her first Iron Man event at age 55.

�I started more than 30 years ago at the urging of Father John Topel who said at a religious retreat in Oregon that running was a way of harmonizing mind, body and spirit,� she told about 100 Barry University students and staff during a lecture March 16 at the School of Human Performance and Leisure Sciences. After her talk, she signed copies of her recently-written autobiography, �The Grace to Race.�

She remembers putting on an old pair of sneakers and running a half mile on a nearby beach during the retreat.

�Father Topel said you have to learn what the runner�s high is,� she said. �After all these years, I haven�t learned what the high is, but I know what the low is.�

During her three-day stay at Barry, Sister Buder started her days early in the morning, working out with Barry�s long-distance running group, the Endurance Club, and attending Mass, as she does every day. She plans to run in the Boston Marathon April 18, the fourth time she will have done so. The first time she ran, she went to her bishop in Spokane, Wash., to ask for his permission.

�I said I prefer to have your approval,� she said. �He told me, �Sister, I wish some of my priests would do what you�re doing.��

Sister Buder has competed in many grueling events and suffered broken bones, blisters, bruises and exhaustion. During a question and answer session, Lisa Cox, a Barry alumnus who is planning to compete in an Iron Man event in Kentucky in August, asked Sister Buder how she deals with the pain.

�There are times when you�re going to have to forget your body. Offer up prayers so your body doesn�t suffer in vain,� said the 112-pound, 5-foot 7-inch nun. �I�m always running in God�s presence, admiring his creation. There is something urging me on.�

She is well known for breaking records in her age group. In 2005, she became the oldest woman to complete the Hawaii Iron Man and finished an hour before the 17-hour cut-off.

HBO�s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel featured Sister Buder and she was named a �hero of running� in Runner�s World magazine. An agent told her that her life must be put in print.

�I thought, how do I live and stop to write about it?� she said.

Sister Buder runs to raise money for a cause, such as muscular dystrophy. One of her secrets to endurance racing is pretending she is a child.

�It�s easy for kids to run,� she said. �Don�t ever lose the child within you. You may age, but you don�t have to grow up.�